Chapter 474

When they got back home, the two of them hit the kitchen together just like old times.

It'd been a hot minute since they last cooked up a storm together, and Theresa must've sensed it, because she was over the moon seeing them at it again tonight, barging into the kitchen, all thumbs, eager to lend a hand.

Sophia and Brandon didn't put any brakes on her; they gave her some easy- peasy tasks, and the little pumpkin was all in, working her socks off.

The excitement and joy carried over to dinner, with Theresa gabbing away, trying to juggle eating and chatting at the same time.

She was so much more full of beans than she had been in the past few days. It was clear as day that Theresa was really digging this family vibe.

Sophia, watching Theresa like this, felt a rollercoaster of emotions. As a mom, seeing her kid happy and chipper was the biggest win she could ask for.

Her internal scales were already tipping, almost without her realizing it, towards giving Theresa the full family package.

regret and a touch of melancholy that she wasn't the main act

stopped fussing with the tableware and was just staring off into space at Theresa, oblivious to

on her. He didn't miss the struggle and compromise in her eyes, nor

was like a heavy

for a walk, helped her with her bedtime

headed to the studio next door. Brandon didn't follow; they both needed some time and

slumped into the computer chair, leaning back, head tilted up, staring at the ceiling

the way she nervously approached her seat under the teacher's direction, the evenings they biked home past the river, the pride he felt winning the

of emotions that led to a night of lost control, to the confusion and uncertainty at the hospital holding the pregnancy test, and then slowly settling into the tranquil harmony of their two

years, always quiet and unassuming yet earnest and dedicated, gracefully content,

for granted that she would

She

was gone, she was really gone. From start to finish, Sophia

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